Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a utility vehicle, and particularly relates to a utility vehicle including a storage box disposed in a bonnet chamber.
Description of the Related Art
A utility vehicle has a riding space surrounded with a ROPS, a cargo bed disposed behind the riding space, and a bonnet disposed ahead of the riding space and covering the top of a bonnet chamber. The utility vehicle further includes, as necessary, a storage box protecting cargo from rain, dirt, and the like.
The storage box is installed at a different position depending on specifications of a utility vehicle, and will be installed below a seat, behind the seat, on a cargo bed, in a bonnet chamber, or the like. U.S. Pat. No. 8,827,357 is cited as a prior art literature on a utility vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 8,960,754 discloses a utility vehicle including a storage box.
FIG. 14 depicts a conventional utility vehicle including a bonnet chamber 100 provided therein with a storage box 101. The storage box 101 has a box cover (bonnet cover) 102 covering, from above, the storage box 101 and the bonnet chamber 100. The box cover 102 has a front end supported by a vehicle body frame or a bonnet via a hinge 110. When a rear end of the box cover 102 is lifted upward along an arrow W as indicated in the figure about the hinge 110 as a supporting point, the tops of the storage box 101 and the bonnet chamber 100 are opened.
Assume a case where a windshield 111 covering a front end of a riding space S1 is optionally provided along a front pillar 113 of a ROPS 112 as indicated by two-dot chain line. If the windshield 111 is of a fixed type, the windshield 111 interferes with the box cover 102 to inhibit the box cover 102 from being opened. In order to avoid such interference, the windshield 111 in the conventional utility vehicle is of a rotatable type configured to rotate forward and upward about an upper end 111a thereof as a supporting point, or is of a foldable type having two divided upper and lower members to allow the lower member to be opened upward.
The entirety or the lower portion of the windshield having the rotatable or foldable structure needs to be opened in order to open the box cover. This leads to troublesome access to the storage box. Furthermore, the structure of the windshield is complicated leading to increased cost for the windshield.